Episode 1: The End

[09:41] xtrebe
hey there buddy!

[09:41] tclintoncunningham
Howdy Amigo

[09:42] xtrebe
Watching Red Dwarf last night made me realize that it's impossible for me to talk about the show objectively.

[09:44] tclintoncunningham
I definitely have a soft spot for it. I actually thought to myself that it was impossible not to think of the series as a whole when watching the early episodes

[09:44] tclintoncunningham
namely how skinny they are

[09:44] xtrebe
Yeah, ha ha

[09:44] xtrebe
And how young they look.

[09:44] xtrebe
Even Captain Hollister looks young.

[09:45] xtrebe
Yeah, it's hard to talk about it without comparing it to future episodes, so I'm not going to bother trying.

[09:45] tclintoncunningham
We shouldnt try to limit our discussion in that way. We both love the series so why not compare/constrast?

[09:45] xtrebe
True

[09:45] xtrebe
First off, the first episode felt fairly slow-paced compared to later episodes.

[09:46] tclintoncunningham
the jokes were more forced

[09:46] tclintoncunningham
I couldnt tell if it was a laugh track or not because there were a few scattered random laughs at odd moments

[09:46] tclintoncunningham
like during the funeral scene

[09:46] xtrebe
Yeah, and there were times where there were no laughs, like in the mess hall or whatever when there were a ton of people everyone

[09:47] xtrebe
Well, not a total lack of laughter, but some jokes didn't get a laugh.

[09:47] xtrebe
The first episode felt like they just had to get all the setup out of the way.

[09:47] tclintoncunningham
Whats an Iguana?

[09:47] tclintoncunningham
That one was pretty bad

[09:48] xtrebe
Yeah

[09:48] xtrebe
Pause, then laughter right when he starts talking again

[09:48] tclintoncunningham
I enjoyed the attempt to explain in scientific terms the way the chamber worked to freeze him in time.

[09:49] tclintoncunningham
I am pretty good at suspending belief, primarily because that is required to enjoy most shows but I always wondered how someone that runs the ship for several years can't manage to advance at all (Referring to Lister)

[09:49] tclintoncunningham
then i think that the ship survived for 3 million years with no crew

[09:50] tclintoncunningham
so perhaps he doesnt end up doing that much

[09:50] tclintoncunningham
I only bring that up in this context because I had forgotten that it had been that long since everyone died

[09:53] xtrebe
My guess would be that Holly does and did all maintenance via the scutters, and the crew did all the mining stuff, cargo handling, whatever else they do.

[09:53] xtrebe
The part that I had missed for years was that the radiation killed the entire crew, yet Cat and the entire Cat race survived for millions of years.

[09:54] xtrebe
Of course, Red Dwarf was never concerned too much about logical consistencies.

[09:55] tclintoncunningham
yeah, not high on their priority list

[09:55] tclintoncunningham
Where did the cat get a pink suit?

[09:55] xtrebe
Some silk worms survived in the cargo bay.

[09:55] xtrebe
j/k I don't know

[09:56] tclintoncunningham
How did the original cat colony survive? Was there a storage of food and milk there too?

[09:56] tclintoncunningham
tell me!!!

[09:56] xtrebe
Also, you'd think that an entire race of cat people would have gone through all the supplies over the course of 3 million years.

[09:56] xtrebe
Ha, exactly

[09:56] xtrebe
That's it, this show sucks.  I quit.

[09:57] tclintoncunningham
Does the ship convert stuff into food?

[09:57] tclintoncunningham
I assume it does that to a degree

[09:57] xtrebe
If it does, it's never mentioned.

[09:57] tclintoncunningham
That is because all intelligent people assume it

[09:58] tclintoncunningham
Us intellectuals like to fill in the gaps of logic and reason with our own plausible answers

[09:58] tclintoncunningham
unfortunately we cant simply override parts of the story and make zero sense like what we have already discussed

[10:00] xtrebe
My favorite is between season 2 and 3

[10:00] xtrebe
where they have the big scrolling text that explains all the changes in the series.

[10:00] xtrebe
But it scrolls by too fast to read unless your care enough about the storyline to record it and watch in slow motion.

[10:01] tclintoncunningham
ha, I dont remember that but it has been over 5 years since I have gone through the series

[10:01] xtrebe
You'll have to go through it slowly and read the whole thing.  It's pretty funny.

[10:01] xtrebe
It's there as lip service to the hardcore nerd fans.

[10:01] tclintoncunningham
i vaguely recall it, just not the details

[10:01] xtrebe
And the writers clearly don't give a crap.

[10:01] tclintoncunningham
i will pay close attention when we get there

[10:04] xtrebe
One thing that I hadn't really noticed before was how they nail the relationship between Lister and Rimmer right from the start.

[10:05] xtrebe
How they interact in ep 1 is pretty much how they interact through the entire show.

[10:05] tclintoncunningham
That is true, there is no drastic shift in that dynamic like a lot of shows have happen

[10:05] tclintoncunningham
expecially after the first season

[10:06] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:06] xtrebe
Ha ha

[10:06] tclintoncunningham
Does it ever clarify the year that the show is meant to start in?

[10:06] xtrebe
A lot of shows have the characters slowly evolve over time

[10:07] xtrebe
But the only real character development that occurs in Red Dwarf is that you get to know them a little bit better in each episode, and in each season they are a little bit more pessimistic and bitter than the previous season.

[10:07] xtrebe
Just like real life :)

[10:07] xtrebe
I think it's 21XX

[10:07] xtrebe
I can't remember, though.

[10:34] tclintoncunningham
My favorite part of any show that deals with the future is when they make the decision: Do we try to anticipate fashion or simply have it be the same as now

[10:34] tclintoncunningham
They opted to leave it in the now

[10:34] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:35] xtrebe
which actually ends up being fine because it's old Euro fashion, which seems alien

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
lol, yes

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
I also like the relaxed dress code of the crew

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
wear this outfit

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
but be cavalier about it

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
have it completely untucked and unbuttoned

[10:36] xtrebe
yeah

[10:36] xtrebe
We'll have to watch for when Lister makes the transition from uniform to badass leather jacket

[10:36] xtrebe
I don't think it's until season 5, but I can't remember

[10:38] tclintoncunningham
I also want to see when the cats suddenly learns how to operate the ship

[10:38] xtrebe
Ha ha, yeah, I think that's season 2.

[10:38] xtrebe
Whenever they start regularly using Starbug.